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21st December 2018

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League Focus: end of year report

As 2018 draws to a close, London GD are back on top of both the men’s and women’s Premier Handball League.

They were double league champions last season and both teams have picked up pace the second half of the autumn. GD women have won six games in a row after an opening day draw, and the men are on the same winning run after losing their opening match.

Bristol are on top of the National League South after winning three and drawing one of their opening five games. Carshalton Titans, in second, are looking ominous having won every match but are a game in arrears. Chelsea, in third, have scored the most goals in the league.

Liverpool have a comfortable margin at the top of the National League South, having won five from five in the 2018/19 season. They go into the new year six points clear of second-placed Coventry Sharks.

In the women’s Regional League South East 1, Cambridge head into 2019 on top of the table. Level on points with Oxford University in second, they are unbeaten so far and have three games in hand over their town versus gown rivals. In the women’s South East Tier 2, both London Angels II and Brighton are unbeaten but Angels II have the top spot by virtue of goal difference.

In the men’s Regional League South East 1, Oxford University finish the year in top spot. They are unbeaten and have also conceded the lowest number of goals per game in the league – an average of just 16 per match. In the men’s South East Tier A, it’s Chelsea II who head into Christmas undefeated and in top spot. They have a 28-goal difference cushion over Guildford, in second place.

In the men’s Regional League North, the students of University of Birmingham and Warwick University are on equal points at the top of the table, having both won two from three.

The women’s Regional League North has Liverpool top of the pile, with a three-point margin over University of Leeds in second. The return legs between Liverpool and Newcastle Vikings have been eye-catching in 2018, with the 19-18 scoreline being repeated over two matches – once in favour of either club.

In the women’s Regional League Midlands, Nottingham and Northampton are locked on level points – Nottingham just getting the top spot by a five-goal difference. The two teams are yet to play in the league and will meet in February for the first time – an eagerly anticipated fixture.

Stroud top the table in both men’s and women’s Regional Leagues South West. In the men’s league they are one point ahead of University of Bath in second, having won three from four. In the women’s equivalent, Stroud are again ahead of the students of Bath in second, but have a game in hand. Stroud women have been a free-scoring side so far in the 2018/19 season, currently averaging 32 goals per game.